


Fragments

by clockwork_spider



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Drabble, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 19:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7653517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockwork_spider/pseuds/clockwork_spider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles featuring Byakuran and Shouchi, sometimes together, sometimes separately, through the multiverse. Mostly Tumblr prompts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death

**Author's Note:**

> Also known as "drabbles I like but are way too short to flood this archive as standalone fics."

Byakuran remembers quite a few of his deaths. Most of them were quite violent, of course. His future selves have been ambitious men. In a sense, Byakuran once mused, perhaps he have already died. At times it feels like all his possibilities of growth have been cut the moment he received his visions from the future, when he realized that the final result from beating the game is emptiness.   
  
So when Jager’s hand pierced through his guts, when he felt his insides a jumbled mess, his blood draining from his veins, Shou-chan and Uni’s cries fading, he wasn’t very surprised. “Ah, alright then. I guess this is the end for this trial,” he thought to himself.   
  
It frustrates him to lose, but if he dies protecting Uni, then perhaps his debts are repaid.   
  
He woke up again, later, to Uni’s smile and puffy red eyes. To Shou-chan’s tired eyes and Gamma’s cursing. To Kikyo’s soup and Bluebell’s hug. And that’s when Byakuran realized that he still haven’t beat this game. That there might be a lot more levels and side-quests to this game called Life.  
  
 _“Ah. It’s good to be alive.”_


	2. "And that was the moment I fell in love"

Byakuran liked the idea of falling in love. It was cute, romantic, like fairy tales. It was something fun to contemplate about.

When he first met Irie Shouichi, his heart skipped a beat. He felt like the world suddenly had a new dimension. There was an erie sense that he had just gained something he’d been missing his whole life. 

‘This must be love at first sight!’ Byakuran thought. 

In retrospect, it was simply the awakening of his multiverse consciousness.

That’s not to say that Byakuran wasn’t fond of his best friend. Irie Shouichi had many fascinating qualities. For one, he was spectacularly clever. Not just on a book level, of course, not the type of genius their professor often praised him for. He wasn’t very cunning either. He was, however, quite imaginative, and a lot more bold than what his appearance may suggest. 

That’s the kicker. Irie Shouichi was clever, bold, and deceptively normal. 

It was the cleverness that made Choice. It was the boldness that lead Shouichi into working with the Vongola. It was the deceptive normality that made the ordeal possible. 

“You’re wrong, Byakuran-san,” Shou-chan stated, calmly, determinedly, after recovering from his state of shock. The sheer conviction was something admirable, like a Hollywood movie protagonist. 

Byakuran was delighted. 

“I’m about to kill your old friend, Byakuran-sama, would that be alright with you?” Kikyo inquired. Byakuran appreciated the thought. 

He watched as Shou-chan stumbled, struggled to keep moving, pushing that average body past its limit with a desperate hope to continue his gambit. To see his opponent this invested… It was beautiful, and charming. 

That was the moment Byakuran fell in love with Irie Shouichi. 

He smiled and gave his approval. 

* * *

Because nothing is quite as flattering as your partner’s sheer determination of wanting you gone. 


	3. On Friendship

Best Friend was never a term Shouichi would have used on Byakuran. He did not keep a lot of friends, and thus saw no point in ranking their closeness to him. Each friendship served a different purpose in life, fulfilled a different function, and none of them are any less important. 

Nevertheless, Byakuran was perhaps the only person he decided to open up to. Byakuran fulfilled a unique position in his relationships, a special snowflake. Thinking back, perhaps he didn’t have the best judge of character. 

* * *

Best Friend was a term Byakuran would have used to describe Shouichi. He kept a lot of friends, and felt he needed something to distinguish Shouichi from the rest. He had met Shouichi in a lot of universes. Each Shouichi fulfilled a different function, but he had always felt that this one was the most important. 

Shouichi, of this universe, was a Best Friend and an opponent. He was the person Byakuran came closest to opening up for. Thinking back, Byakuran never regretted a single moment. 

* * *

Best Friends, as a state of existence, was a term that could apply to them once upon a time. Before Shoichi’s memories came back. Before Byakuran set his goal on world domination. Before Millefiore. Before their respective first kills. Before “you’re wrong, Byakuran-san” and the nod approval to “I’m about to kill your old friend, Byakuran-sama”. Before Choice. 

After they met in some other universe. After Shouichi suppressed his memories. After Byakuran lent Shouichi a hand. After the smiles and the introduction. After their 20th coffee. After “because I think you’re brilliant, Sho-chan” and “you’re incredible, Byakuran-san”. After the bright-eyed haze of an all-nighter discussions on morality, romance, AI, and the future of mechanical engineering. After the creation of Choice. 

Before they woke up one day with memories from ten years later. 

Before their 1st coffee. 

Before “let’s be friends again, Sho-chan,” and “please call me Irie-kun.” 

Before the awkward hugs and uncomfortable laughters. 

Before their collaborative research project. 

Before the warmth of each other’s hand and the sound of each other’s heartbeat on New Year’s Eve. 

* * *

Best Friends was a temporal existence, only applicable between two points in time that never happened. 

* * *

At some point, Shouichi had stopped keeping track of labels. Friend, companion, enemy, partner, colleague, partner. 

At some point, Byakuran had stopped comparing their relationship to the futures. Friend, Best Friend, opponent, object of interest, colleague, partner.

And at the end of the day, they’ll always be important to one another, in each of their temporal state of existence. 


	4. On Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take place during University Days. After Shouichi gets the memories he erased from himself. 

When Shouichi was much younger, he used to be terrified of thunderstorms. Gradually, kids get used to that kind of stuff.

When Shouichi was a teenager, he enjoyed thunderstorm, he enjoyed knowing that he didn’t fear it any longer. It made him feel powerful, knowing that he was no longer afraid of something he feared before. And on summer days, he’d run home in the rain, feeling invincible.

When Shouichi was sixteen, he got pneumonia.

* * *

“What do you mean ‘stop and feel the rain?’” Shouichi asked incredulously, “We have a report due next Monday. If you catch a cold then I’d have to do it by myself. I won’t allow you to catch a cold!”

He grabbed Byakuran by the arm and dragged until the idiot future-destructo-savant stopped resisting.

“Mah, but Shou-chan, I never get sick!”

* * *

The process of learning goes like this. You fear, because you know nothing. You stop fearing, because you think you understood. But when you truly understands, you know exactly what to fear for.

Byakuran, he reasoned, never had anything to fear for.

* * *

For a moment Shouichi fantasized that perhaps Byakuran would catch pneumonia and die, and he wouldn’t have to worry about the future evil overlord anymore.

Shouichi still had plenty to fear for.

“I’m not risking it before the finals,” he stated plainly, and continued dragging the future dictator along.


	5. Seperation Anxiety

At the Vongola headquarters, Shouichi’s phone rang for the 20th time of the day. 

“IF YOU MAKE ONE MORE CALL TO WHINE ABOUT _THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES_ , BYAKURAN-SAN, I WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT WITH A BLUNT KNIFE OR GOD HELP ME.” The poor phone clacked against the receiver as the Vongola technician smashed it down. 

The silence was deafening as everyone stared at Irie Shouichi in awe and horror. 

“Haha, must be tough dealing with Byakuran, eh?” the rain guardian was the first to comment. The technician, realizing his slip, curled in on himself in embarrassment with some mumbled apology. 

“I don’t know what is wrong with him nowadays. Why must he update me with every single detail of his life?” Shouichi sounded like he’s dying, which, in all honesty, is a bit melodramatic. Maybe the black circles under his eyes have something to do with it. 

“Maybe he’s having separation anxiety,” Bianchi offered nonchalantly. 

“Augh,” Shouichi buried his head in the paperworks. 

“You know what, Irie-kun, why don’t you take a vacation? Starting tomorrow,” Vongola the 10th decrees. 


	6. Snowballing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TYL universe, university days, after Shouichi remembered it all, before Byakuran started World Domination.

“Don’t you dare throw that snowba-” but before Shouichi even managed to finish his sentence, a snowball came flying towards his face, “Dammit!”

They’re twenty-one, fourth year university students, too old for snowball fights, too old for the reckless abandon of having fun without caring about catching a cold. Not that it would matter for someone like Byakuran, anyway. 

So when they lay themselves on the snow, panting, freezing, laughing, Shouichi doesn’t think about the future. He doesn’t think about time travel or doomed timelines or his plans for betrayal. 

Perhaps they can enjoy their youth for another day. 


	7. Begin Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You be the moon I’ll be the earth  
> And when we burst  
> Start over o darling  
> Begin again”  
> – Begin Again - Purity Ring

It’s been four months since the world fell into your hand, three and a half since Yuni sacrificed her own life. Two since you lost Irie Shouichi. At least, in this universe.

The convenience of having multi-verse memories, you feel, is that there are always universes where things are different. For example, you’re now looking at a world where he’s still alive and fighting. 

“You’re wrong, Byakuran-san,” he declares, bold, anxious, determined, and you can’t help but smile at the pure willfulness of his declaration. 

“Stop me,” you answer, whispering it quietly in fear of breaking the illusion. He doesn’t hear you. He stares at your other self right in the eyes. He isn’t yours. 

It’s regrettable. 

At night you dream, of realities where he’s still there. Of realities where he kills you. Of realities where you’ve kept him alive for a little longer. Of realities where you’re still fighting. Of realities where you never have to kill one another, and he’s right there, by your side, laughing and whispering your name. 

“I love you, Byakuran,” he confesses under the streetlamps, a shy but genuine smile. The December snow melts on his lashes. His hands holds not the mare ring, but an engagement ring. 

“I love you too, Shou-chan,” you whisper back. 

He doesn’t hear you.

“I love you too, Shou-chan,” your other self answers, sweet, singsong, overjoyed. 

From the hand of your other self, you feel Shou-chan’s body heat.


End file.
